Scuderia Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton had to settle for qualifying P6 for the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP. Hamilton was unable to get a tow on the long final straight, which, by his figuring, was at least the 0.498 second difference between him and Charles Leclerc in 2nd.
In FP3, he had a monster tow from three cars preparing for a flying lap and it benefited him massively.
“I had one in P3 and it was six tenths. Didn’t have one in the session, unfortunately.”
Ferrari “decided to change the run plan”
How that came about was a byproduct of a change in strategy at Ferrari heading into Q3.
“After Q2 they decided to change the run plan and just do one run, which hadn’t foreseen the fact that I would come out with no one ahead of me and just towing Charles the whole time. I was 25 seconds behind George, so I just knew I had no one ahead.”
Regarding Ferrari’s Azerbaijan GP qualifying strategy execution, Hamilton remarked “every weekend it’s always the question: whether or not you’re able to do a good job or not. And there’s just different circumstances. You manage them the best and sometimes it works for you, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Hamilton: “We’ve got to bring back some good tyres”
The strategy failure was compounded by Hamilton’s struggles with this weekend’s tyres.
The seven-time World Champion delivered strong criticism of the Pirelli tyres once more.
“In Q2 I started struggling even more with the rear tyres. I was behind like eight, at least, cars in those two sessions.”
This carried into Q3: “I was weaving to try and save my life and I still couldn’t get these stupid tyres working. It’s such a pain in the arse. We’ve got to bring back some good tyres.”
“It will be hard to overtake”
With the tyres that Hamilton and Ferrari have, they will have to make the most of the situation on Saturday. Even in a front row-capable car, on the uniquely challenging Baku circuit, Hamilton will have his hands full making up ground.
“Charles did a really good job. Again, right at the end I gave him a really good tow all the way to the start line. It will be hard to overtake any of the cars that are up ahead.”
